Art and active imagination: Reflections on transference and the image1

Abstract

The term Active Imagination is sometimes applied rather uncritically to describe all forms of creative activity that take place in depth psychology. Whilst art in psychotherapy may evoke or be evoked by active imagination, it cannot automatically be classed as active imagination. In this article, investigation of the distinction between visualised mental imagery and art reveals two distinct forms of image-based psychological activity. Integrated and mediated within the transference and countertransference dynamic, it is proposed that the engagement in active imagination reflects and is influenced by the transference. Distinctions between sign and symbol, as well as diagrammatic and embodied imagery clarify the differences. Examples from clinical practice demonstrate each mode in action.